Anorexia
by SaSuke.tHe-HarD.LoLz
Summary: Anorexia nervosa, a psychological condition characterized by refusal to eat. Chouji loves her, but all she does is criticize him and say he's fat. How far will Chouji venture along the path of destruction that he has created for himself, just to be loved.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey Chouji, are you alright?" Shikamaru asked his long time friend as their team stopped to make camp.

"Yeah I'm fine." The bigger teenager replied evasively.

_You don't look fine._ Shikamaru thought to himself. Chouji was crouched over with his hands on his knees and panting heavily, even though they hadn't been traveling very long.

"Shikamaru, come set up our tent while I go get some firewood." Shikamaru's sensei, Asuma, called over.

"Hai."

While setting up the tent Shikamaru kept sneaking glances at Chouji, who was helping Ino with her own tent, not wholly sure that he was ok. They were on their way home from a troublesome mission, one that consisted of catching a very inexperienced thief, and it hadn't taken much to make Chouji exhausted. The three ninja had just finished setting up the tents when Asuma emerged from the surrounding wilderness with a bunch of firewood in his arms. He laid the wood on the ground and lit a cigarette.

"Let's get this party started." the leader exclaimed enthusiastically before placing the cigarette in his mouth.

Now when Asuma said this he actually meant that he wanted the youths to cook dinner. So Ino and Shikamaru began preparing the meal; Chouji mumbled something about not being hungry and went into the guys' tent. _Something's definitely wrong. Chouji would never miss a meal no matter how tired he was._

"I see he finally took my advice." Ino said smugly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Shikamaru suspiciously.

"Well he's always eating, and I mean, that can't be healthy. So I told him maybe he should cut down on the food a little bit. Besides, he'll never get a girl looking like that." She replied scornfully, "So the way I see it, I did him a favor."

Shikamaru could feel his anger rising. Who was she to tell Chouji he couldn't eat or that he couldn't get a girl? She'd had, what, one boyfriend in her entire life? Ino and Shino had dated for a few months after their mission to the water country with Anko. Although it had ended rather badly. Since then Ino hadn't dated any one, and her childhood obsession, Sasuke, had disappeared long before she and Shino had been an item. No, Ino definitely didn't have the right to criticize Chouji. _Why would Chouji listen to her?_ He wondered. _Since when does he care what she thinks?_

Asuma watched in mild curiosity as Shikamaru said coldly "I don't think that's for you to decide."

Ino just shrugged and continued preparing the food. They ate their meals in silence, Shikamaru seething with anger. When they were done Shikamaru left the cleaning up to Asuma and Ino, and went to the tent he shared with Chouji and his sensei.

"Okay Chouji," Shikamaru said as he pushed aside the tent flap. "Spill."

"What do you mean?" Chouji asked eyeing his backpack in the corner. Shikamaru concluded that the pack had at least a dozen bags of chips hidden among the necessary contents, and for some reason Chouji was trying extremely hard to contain himself.

Shikamaru stepped over the sleeping bags and sat next to his companion. "Oh come on Chouji, you and I both know that you wouldn't miss a meal to save your life. Hell, all of Konoha knows! Something's wrong, and I bet it has something to do with Ino."

"Why do you say that?" Chouji asked his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Well Ino told me what she said to you, and you should know by now not to listen to her. All she cares about is her appearance; anything else she talks about can't be taken seriously. The one thing I want to know is why you care what she thinks of you."

"Just leave me alone; I'm tired. You're the genius you figure it out. I'm going to bed." Chouji climbed into his sleeping bag and turned away from his friend.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed as he left the tent to rejoin Ino and Asuma.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ok this is my first fan fiction so please bear with me. I know it's been a while since I posted the first chapter and I'm sorry, I get annoyed when authors don't update as well.**

**so yeah hope you like the story. If you have any questions or suggestions I'd love to hear them. **

* * *

He lay there. Not thinking; not moving; not caring what was happening outside his peaceful solitude. Opening his bleary eyes, he stared at the canvas above him. Why did he feel so crappy? Then he remembered the events of the night before. His anger came back as strong as the previous evening. Shikamaru had no right to reprimand him. How did he know that Ino didn't care?

Chouji sat up and instantly regretted it as sharp needles of pain shot through his abdomen. Looking around, he noticed that Asuma and Shikamaru had already packed up their belongings and left the stuffy tent. Chouji groaned; he could smell breakfast cooking outside the tent, making his stomach rumble. The overweight ninja hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before, unless you counted the bag of chips he had sneakily eaten after Shikamaru had left him. _If this is what it takes to lose weight then I'll just have to live with it_, Chouji thought as he slowly got dressed. When Chouji emerged from the tent he was instantly attacked by Ino.

"Breakfast, Chouji? I made it myself, no thanks to them." She alleged, glowering at Shikamaru and Asuma who were languidly propped up against fallen trees, eating their meals.

"Uh… Sure." Chouji hadn't planned on eating breakfast, but he thought it might be wise to accept Ino's plate and stay out of the boat that his other team mates were currently drifting in.

"How is it?" Ino asked, eager for approval.

"Great." Chouji replied, trying not to gag. Chouji could barely stomach the rations, due to the lack of meals over the past few days.

"Alright then, as soon as we're all done eating, we'll pack up and head home." announced Asuma in a content manner.

"Just like we all made breakfast?" muttered Ino sourly.

"Exactly!" Asuma exclaimed exuberantly.

"Hey Chouji, lets go take down the tent." Shikamaru suggested, mostly to escape Ino's seething anger.

They silently set to work, both uncomfortable from the previous night's argument.

"So, how are you feeling today?" Shikamaru asked uneasily, breaking the icy silence.

"Fine." Chouji replied tersely.

"Really? You don't seem fine."

"Well I would be if you'd leave me the hell alone!"

Surprised at the outburst, Ino and Asuma looked over from where the blonde kunoichi's tent was being taken down. Scowling, Chouji abandoned what he was doing and tramped off into the woods. Shikamaru exhaled angrily, walking over to a nearby stump. He sat down heavily looking up at the sky.

"What's wrong with him?" Ino asked coming to stand by Shikamaru.

"I don't know he won't talk to me. Why don't you ask him yourself, since you're the one who started this whole thing with your thoughtless comments!" Shikamaru stood up and stomped off in the opposite direction his friend had gone.

"We're never going to get home." Asuma sighed.

"I'm going to go talk to Chouji, you calm Shika down." Ino called over her shoulder as she went after Chouji.

"Stupid Shikamaru, he always finds a way to mess everything up. I just want to go home." Ino muttered as she shoved her way through the dense undergrowth. "Some genius he is, pissing off his best friend. Jeez, where is he!"

Ino emerged out of the foliage to find herself beside a small river, with Chouji resting against a large tree. She strolled over and sat beside him, looking out over the stream. They sat for a few moments, with sunlight sneaking between leaves and dancing on the forest floor.

"Chouji, what's wrong? You've been very…oh I don't know…distant I guess." Ino commented quietly. "That's not like you."

"I don't know. Shikamaru's just always in my face, and I don't want to talk to him." Chouji wearily answered

"Well, you can talk to me."

There was a pause before Chouji replied. "Thanks Ino, you don't know how much that means to me right now, but I don't really want to talk to anybody. There's nothing to talk about."

"So," Asuma said thoughtfully around his cigarette. "what's going on between you and Chouji? You're both acting very odd. If I didn't know better I'd think you two were women with the mood swings you guys are pulling." guys

"Just because you're having problems with Kurenai-sensei doesn't mean you have to relate us to women and mood swings." Shikamaru mumbled looking at the ground.

"I'm not- That's not what we're talking about here!" Asuma exclaimed, flustered. "We're talking about you and Chouji and … and… whatever the hell is wrong with you guys!"

"Wow seems like things are pretty bad with Kurenai-sensei, eh?" Shikamaru raised his head.

"Things aren't bad; She's just … going through a rough time right now and isn't quite herself." Asuma started, not realizing the conversation had just shifted.

_Great, now I have to give my sensei relationship advice. I knew this was going to be a troublesome mission._ Shikamaru thought sourly.

"-but I won't get into that since it's personal." Asuma finished.

"That's probably a good idea." Shikamaru agreed not having the slightest clue what his mentor was talking about.

"Alright, but if your mission performance keeps suffering like this you know I'm going to have to do something." Ino said sweetly, a smile on her lips. "Come on; let's go finish packing up, the sooner we get home the better." She stood up.

Ino grabbed Chouji's hand and started to drag him through the trees. _She's not as self-absorbed as Shika thinks. _Chouji thought. He reflected on his thoughts as the two comrades made their way back to their camp.

When the two Chunin returned to camp, they saw that Shikamaru and Asuma had already packed up the equipment. Chouji noted that this was one of the very rare occasions where Ino was speechless. He had to admit, he was pretty shocked at their efficiency as well.

"Finally, we can head home!" Ino exclaimed, letting go of Chouji's hand and quickly grabbing her bag. "Let's get going, the sooner I can take a shower, the happier everyone will be."


End file.
